Against Sentar Scythran, they now had a chance.
Killian's gestures betrayed the emotion he was feeling. The revenant in contrast was wooden and still. Only the occasional tremble of his arms showed Lord Aidan still possessed an element of life.
Ella wondered about the Evermen. What were they? If they weren't human, where did they come from? Had they long ago opened a portal to Merralya and conquered those they found already there, in the same way they'd conquered Shar?
Somehow it seemed unlikely. The Evermen considered themselves more than human, but to Ella, Killian was just like her, albeit a man with extraordinary powers. His features were human, and his mother had been a normal person. The fact that Evrin and a human woman had produced offspring led Ella to believe the Evermen weren't a separate race altogether.
Would Evrin know? In their time together Ella had asked him about his youth. Evrin Evenstar was incredibly old, his lifespan several times that of an ordinary man, and he said his oldest memories were murky, like pages of a picture book faded to brown over the years.
He had said he remembered a time when he'd been a young man, and for some reason he thought he'd had russet hair rather than ginger, but blamed the remembrance on a muddled memory. Whatever his youth had been like, Evrin Evenstar had been the Lord of the Sky for eons, and ruled over his lands and the humans who lived in them. After the war that saw the humans made free and the Evermen exiled to Shar, he'd travelled the land for eons more, looking for a surviving child from his love with a human woman. His memories were piled one on top of the other, and asking about his youth was searching too deep beneath the layers.
Finding Killian had coincided with Evrin's decision to take action, where before he had stood by and let the people of Merralya fight each other. Evrin had once promised himself he would no longer seek to control the destiny of the people he once ruled. He'd stood by and looked on during more wars than he cared to remember, and always he'd stayed his hand. The Primate's evil had finally changed his mind. The ensuing events had culminated with Killian crossing over to Shar.
Soon, Ella would bring Killian back home.
Ella hoped talking to his father might bring him some peace. She promised herself that if Lady Alise was still alive, she would try to see Killian reunited with his mother.
Ella saw Lord Aidan slump. His head fell and his arms dropped to his sides. Ella didn't know what Killian was saying, but she saw him take the revenant's arms and shake him.
Lord Aidan's fists suddenly clenched at his sides, and Ella's eyes went wide as she remembered the warnings of Aldrik and Barnabas.
Aldrik's words came back to her now.
"It happens only once in a while, and only to the draugar we bring back with more of who they were. Sometimes the eyes turn entirely red, and the life leaves them." The necromancer's voice had turned ominous. "But before they go, they become berserk."
Ella looked again at the revenant. She'd had to bring back much of the man he had been, using the forbidden lore Barnabas had taught her, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to cross the portal.
Lord Aidan straightened, and a shudder went through his body. His body tensed, and Killian took two steps back.
Ella opened her mouth to cry out, when she heard a series of shrieks behind her, sending a chill through her body.
Turning, she saw a black cloud fill the twilight sky. Wraiths. Dozens of them.
Killian had turned also, and Ella saw him point at the wraiths.
At that instant, with Killian's attention diverted, Lord Aidan attacked.
46
WITH the horde thundering towards the walls of Emirald, a rope was finally lowered, and first Amber and then Miro were hoisted up to the walls.
"Quick!" Miro felt a hand shove him. "Get out of here!"
The revenant army crashed into the walls and beneath him Miro felt the stone tremble. A soldier herded Miro and Amber down from the walls even as ladders slapped up against the battlements and the defenders carried buckets of boiling pitch up to the walls in the opposite direction.
"Do you know the way to the palace?" the soldier asked when they were down.
Miro nodded. "I can find it."
"Good. You'll have to talk your own way in. I'm needed here."
The soldier turned around and ran back up to the walls, sword in hand. Miro admired the Veldrin's courage.
"Come on," Miro said to Amber, taking her by the hand. "We need to hurry. This city won't last."
The climb up the sloping streets was arduous after the sprint to the city walls. The roads were deserted as Miro led them continuously upwards and towards the heights.
Miro was surprised to see there weren't any soldiers at the palace. He simply walked in, remembering the last time he'd come here under guard, marvelling at the ivory spires and turquoise domes, the tranquil fountains and grassy courtyards.